Akane Goes Crazy and Stuff
by Kuragari no Oshiego
Summary: After a day when she is molested, embarrassed, humiliated, harassed, teased and generally screwed with, Akane finally snaps. She decides that there is only one way to have some peace and dignity in her life. That's right: It's time for Akane to bury some of these clowns.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes:** Okay, you saw the title, you read the irreverent synopsis. So I hope you can tell that this is not too serious. I'm just screwing around here. That's not to suggest that I won't work hard or make this the best story I can, but it _will_ be somewhat absurd on a fundamental level. Because-I'm going to say it straight up-this story WILL involve Akane killing people. I'm going to try and make her reasons for doing so explicable but, I mean, if the idea alone already has you seething then maybe don't read on. I don't blame you. Fanfiction is supposed to be fun or at least interesting. If this doesn't sound like either one to you, I understand. Just please don't trash me for the premise when I kind of gave it away all up front here (if you want to trash me for the execution, however, that is fair).

Also, fair warning that I'm going to be making liberal use of the 'M' rating. Expect copious amounts of adult language, adult situations and violence and gore (not like torture-porn levels but it will be bloody).

If you're still here, then proceed on and I hope you like it.

 **Akane's Worst Day Ever**

Akane came awake slowly. There was something warm on her chest, nestled between her breasts. "P-chan?" she murmured sleepily. That was odd. Her little pig hadn't been with her last night and he normally didn't sleep on top of her. Akane's blinked open her dark eyes and once her vision focused, a wave of revulsion washed over her. Her stomach dropped through the floor and every muscle tensed so intensely that she froze. Sleeping on top of her, in a fairly half-assed P-chan costume, was the Grand Master of the Anything Goes School of martial arts.

Happosai opened his bulbous eyes and locked eyes with her. Then his eyebrows rose. "Oh, damn," he said. "I fell asleep. Sorry, Akane-chan. I meant to be gone before you woke up." He smiled his lecherous smile. "It's just that Akane-chan's boobies are so comfortable!"

Rage finally conquering her nauseated paralysis, Akane took a swing at him. The diminutive old man hopped away from her fist. Akane reached for the shinai she kept next to her bed while surging to her feet. "Forgive me, Akane!" he shouted, crocodile tears spilling from his gigantic eyes. He leapt toward the window of her room. Fury allowing her to break through her normal speed barrier, Akane whipped the shinai through the air like a baseball bat and smashed the ancient pervert in the back of his head. Happosai flew through the window much faster than he had planned.

Akane stumbled back and sat down heavily on her bed, dropping her shinai. She cradled her sweat-soaked brow in both hands. _That dirty old bastard_ , she thought, trying not to throw up. _I can't believe Dad lets him live here._ Eventually her heart slowed down and her sweat went cold on her skin. Akane felt gross and wanted to take a bath but a quick glance at the clock told her that wasn't feasible. With a groan she started pulling on her school uniform.

The breakfast Kasumi made was delicious, as usual, but her disgust at the morning's events made it hard for Akane to enjoy it. She also noted with irritation that neither Ranma nor his father were at the table or out in the yard sparring. That was annoying to Akane because it inevitably led to her oldest sister suggesting, in her normal pleasant and impossible to argue with manner, to, "Go and wake up Ranma so you two aren't late for school."

 _Why is it my responsibility to make sure that baka makes it to school every morning?_ she thought resentfully as she trudged up the stairs to his room. _He'll just sleep through the first class anyway._ Akane slammed open the door to his room. The sight that awaiting her was so unexpected and incomprehensible that Akane's brain had to break it down into component parts.

Ranma and his father were both still in their futons. Genma was in his panda form but Ranma was male. He also wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing. A bouquet of black roses lay between them. Ranma's eyes were wide and fearful. Kodachi was kneeling next to his waist. There was some kind of tube over Ranma's... _thing_. What looked like an instruction booklet was open on the floor next to Kodachi.

Akane's hand tightened on the door frame, snapping it. "What the _hell_ is going on here?"

"Ohohoho..." Kodachi laughed weakly. She glanced from Ranma to Akane. "Bye." The Black Rose sprinted from the room, Akane putting a boot in her ass to help her on her way. Kodachi went airborne and Akane watched her, breathing heavily.

"Th-thanks," Ranma stuttered quietly. Akane turned back to him but couldn't quite look at him head on. She was having an internal war. On one hand, she knew that Kodachi had snuck in and paralyzed Ranma. On the other, he should be able to handle things like that. _Why won't he just deal with these other girls already_? On an even deeper level, Akane was simply _livid_ that another girl had seen his package. "I think her gas is starting to wear off," Ranma said. "I must be developing an immunity."

Akane clenched her fists and glared at him before hastily averting her eyes. "You mean you could have moved any time?!"

"No, no," Ranma said plaintively. "It's just wearing off now." He managed to get to his feet awkwardly. "What was she doing to me?" he asked, more to himself that to her. He touched the tube. Out of the corner of her eye, Akane noticed that his face was as red as her own must be. _I have to get out of here_. Unfortunately, Ranma was between her and the door. She started edging around the side of the room. "I'm kind of afraid to pull this off. I don't know what it is." Ranma tried an experimental tug on the tube and took an inadvertent step toward Akane. _No,_ she thought, _stay away!_ "Akane?" Ranma half-turned toward her, the tube bouncing obscenely.

That was her limit. "Noooo!" Akane shrieked, booting Ranma into the stratosphere. Her face burning and struggling to breathe, Akane collected her bookbag from her room and left the house...just in time for Ranma to fall back to Earth. He slammed into the ground in front of her and lay still, momentarily incapacitated.

While Akane struggled with what to do, Shampoo seemingly materialized from nowhere and squatted down next to Ranma. Akane watched in mute horror as the Amazon popped the tube off of Ranma and closed one eye to peer down into it. She nodded once. "Is good." The she swaggered over to Akane. "This ancient plaster mold for Amazons who get too-too lonely with no strong mans around. Husband make good one, Shampoo know. Want see?" She extended the tube toward Akane.

Akane shook her head rapidly, "No!"

Shampoo laughed. "Find me when get lonely in the night, Tendo-girl. Maybe I help."

Akane tried to snatch the tube from the Amazon's hand but Shampoo easily pulled it away. "Give that to me," Akane snarled.

"So you is interested," Shampoo said with another laugh.

"I am not!" Akane insisted, still trying to steal the tube away.

Shampoo kept it away from her with no appreciable effort. She brought the tube up and rubbed it against her cheek. "This have to do Shampoo until Ranma convince to come to China." She leapt away, bouncing on to the railing outside of the Tendo compound. "Bye bye!" Then she disappeared.

"So that's what Kodachi was doing," Ranma said softly. Akane glanced at him but quickly turned away. "And Shampoo wanted one too." Akane could hear the smile on his voice. _Pervert._

"Ranma," she growled. "Put on some clothes!"

"Yikes!" Ranma hurried inside.

Akane stomped off to school without waiting for him. Waiting for her was Tatewaki Kuno. Akane did not want to deal with him right now...or ever, really. The man didn't even seem able to conceive of the fact that Akane didn't like him. The good news was that she could usually just mash his face in the dirt when he got to uppity. And since he was running at her screaming a haiku—that was two syllables too long—she prepared to do just that.

Before he reached her, Akane spotted someone that she _could not_ deal with. Happosai, flipping skirts as was his pastime now and them. _Doesn't he ever get tired?_ Akane thought wearily. The tiny hentai saw her and wailed, "Akane-chan!" She froze, unsure what she could do. The old bastard was so powerful he was basically a god to someone like her. Only Ranma could routinely deal with him. Akane was starting to regret not waiting for him.

In the end, all she could do was take a futile swipe at him with her bookbag. Happosai ducked under it and flipped her skirt up. The triggered the fury that was Akane's main source of power and she punted the pervert over the roof of the school. Akane flung her bookbag to the ground, her temper still flaring. _That's twice and I haven't even been awake for an hour! Dad has to do something about him._

"She wears blue and white. She shows her conflict and tumult. Kuno will save her!" Kuno opened his arms wide, inviting Akane to jump into them. Akane planted a foot into his mouth instead.

As Kuno crashed into the ground, Akane brushed her hair back and snorted. "One syllable too many, Kuno-senpai." _I can't believe that sick fool saw my panties!_ She wanted to die...or beat him until he forgot. Instead, she stomped into her homeroom class. The aura of malice around her was so strong that not even her friends tried to talk to her. As Akane intended. She just wanted this day to be over.

Hinako-sensei, as usual, did not pick up on the mood of the class and happily announced, "Today's physical education will be at the pool!" Akane slammed her head into her desk. Hinako didn't notice, instead choosing to race out of the room, squealing, "Yay! The pool!"

The class got up and followed, though at a considerably calmer pace. Akane trudged after them, wondering if she should just go to the nurse's office with some kind of made-up malady. She noticed Ranma looking at her and wondered if he was going to say something. She half-hoped he would and half-dreaded it as well. There was never any telling what was going to come out of Ranma's mouth. Instead, he looked away, leaving Akane felling relieved but also irritated. _Coward_.

Her irritation went up another notch when Ukyo grabbed his arm and started saying something to him. He looked uncomfortable but didn't shake her off. _Stop encouraging her, Ranma! She's clingy enough as it is_. Her nominal-fiance did no such thing, however, and instead started laughing at something Ukyo said. The classmates closest to her stepped away as Akane began grinding her teeth.

Fortunately, the pool wasn't that far away and Ukyo didn't carry her boy-act into the boys' locker-room. Akane swiftly changed into her swimsuit, half expecting Happosai or Kuno or Ranma or some new deviant into the changing room. Luckily, none did but it was still with a sense of heavy dread that Akane entered the pool-area. She gazed at the blue water with apprehension, wondering what it was about it that defeated her every time. Everybody else could swim. _Everybody!_ Her pride as a Japanese was on the line. Like it usually did, a burst of determination rose in her breast. _I will learn to swim! I will!_

"Maximum effort!" Akane cried, charging at the pool.

"No running in the pool area!" the lifeguard shouted.

"Wait, Akane!" everybodyelse screamed.

Akane ignored them all, leaping into the air and tucking into a ball. She hit the water with a large splash and sank three meters to the bottom of the pool. Akane forced her eyes open, wincing at the sting. She craned her neck up and marked the surface of the water. _It's so close! I just need to get there_. Akane started furiously churning her legs and arms in the manner she believed to be correct. She did not move. Akane took a break, thinking to catch her breath. Then she remembered that she couldn't do it at the bottom of a pool. She opened her mouth and shouted, "Burbleburburble!" Unfortunately, this had the side-effect of filling her lungs with water. Akane began to churn her limbs again, this time while her lungs unsuccessfully tried to ejaculate the unwelcome deluge of pool water.

A hand curled under her arm and pulled her upward. Akane broke the surface of the water and managed to cough up the majority of the water she had swallowed. Her throat burned and her chest felt like it had been stomped on. When she could see again, the face of Ranma's female form swam into view. There was concern written across that annoyingly cute face but also a fair amount of pity. That last injured Akane's ego enough that when Ranma helped her over the edge of the pool, Akane walked away without saying a word in thanks. "So uncute," Ranma mumbled. _That's right, Ranma. I'm not cute._

She wandered over and sat in the bleachers, feeling exhausted and miserable. Akane watched her classmates fool around in the pool with resentment. Why was it so easy for them when it was so hard for her? Ranma, especially, was all over the place, showing off a variety of moves that would have made an Olympic diver jealous. It was incredibly annoying how easily any physical activity came to him. Akane's only solace was how much better she was at schoolwork than him. Though she had a sick feeling that if he actually ever bothered to try at school, he might be very good at it.

The sight of a little black pig brought Akane out of her melancholy thoughts. For a brief, horrible, moment she wondered if it might be Happosai, coming to molest the girls in swimsuits. Another look though told her that the pig was too small. It was the real P-chan! _Where did you come from?!_ The little pig had a habit of showing up at the most random time in the most random places. _He's so close to the pool! Can he swim?_ Heart thumping in her chest, Akane sprinted toward him. P-chan saw her as well and started running, tears streaming out behind him.

Then his little hooves slipped on the wet floor around the pool and he fell in. Without thinking twice about it, Akane dived in after him. Once she reached the bottom of the pool, Akane had second thoughts. She looked around and noticed that P-chan was paddling across the surface of the water, completely fine. Vastly relieved, Akane breathed a sigh of relief. Water replaced her expelled carbon dioxide. Despite doing her best once to swim upwards once more, the last thing Akane saw before she passed out was the pig she'd tried to rescue desperately swimming toward her. _Thanks, P-chan..._

Akane coughed up water. She choked when some of it dripped back down her throat and someone turned her on her side so she could more easily eject the water from her lungs. Akane coughed and coughed until she felt like her entire body had been wrung out. Then she looked up. Ranma was on one knee next to her, red pigtail hanging limply. A look of concern was on the redhead's face, as well as a slight blush. "Ya okay?" Ranma asked.

 _Why is he blushing?_ It hit Akane and she touched her lips. Mouth to mouth. In front of everybody. _While he's a girl!_ Tears of embarrassment appeared in Akane's eyes. She got to her feet and, even though she felt weak and unsteady, bolted from the pool. She grabbed a towel in the locker-room and started furiously drying herself off. Including, rather painfully, her eyes. _Damn it! Why do these things always happen to me?!_ She bashed her head into her locker and choked back a sob. _Ranma didn't even do anything wrong this time. Why did I react like that? Why can't anything work like it's supposed to?_

No answers came to mind so Akane sullenly opened her locker to get dressed. She stripped out of her swimsuit and pulled on her bra. Then she reached for her panties. They were not there. Akane stared at the place they were supposed to be for a long moment, her brain unable to accept what was happening. _Where are they?!_ She dug through the locker, throwing her dress, socks and shoes out. They weren't in there. _How is this possible?_

The visage of a certain aged panty-thief drifted into her mind. Happosai had stolen gym shorts before but he hadn't actually stolen the used panties out of lockers before. Considering this morning, though, Akane wasn't willing to rule anything out. She moved to the locker next to hers and pulled it open. To her dismay, a pair of panties was sitting right in the open. Same with the next locker. _Only me?_ Akane returned to her locker, desperately hoping that she had made a mistake. But there was nothing. Akane bit her lip and glanced at the locker next to hers. Her palms got sweaty. _Am I really considering...?_

Before Akane could decide what to do, she heard the chattering of her classmates returning. She quickly put the rest of her clothes on and left before any of them could talk to her. The next period was math, to Akane's pleasure, and she managed to forget her worries briefly, while attempting to solve some equations. The fact that Ranma, now in male form, got sent out in the hall for most of the period after falling asleep, only helped matters. It did feel very strange not to have underpants on however. She could almost forget about it until she adjusted her seat and felt the lack. When she had to go solve an equation on the board, she felt like her classmates could tell, somehow. She broke out in sweat and her heart started hammering. She hoped the teacher just put it down to her being nervous about the problem.

At lunch, Akane sat with her normal group of friends even if she didn't join in on their inane gossip. Though her throat was sore, Akane _was_ enjoying her Kasumi-bento until the tell-tale bulge in the wall announced Shampoo's arrival. The wall collapsed inward and the Amazon strode in over the rubble. "Can't you just use the door?" Akane muttered.

"Husband! Shampoo have lunch!" The purple-haired vixen flounced over to Ranma with a few dishes from the _Nekohanten_.

Ranma waved her away weakly. "I already have a bento from Kasumi."

Not put off in the least, Shampoo said, "Shampoo know Husband have too big appetite. Can eat both, yes?"

Ranma, who was now drooling at the sight of the ramen, said, "When you put it like that..." He snatched the bowl and started gulping it down in the particularly disgusting way that was the Saotome hallmark. Akane wanted to thump him on the head but she was still too embarrassed from the pool incident at the moment. Not to mention what Shampoo had been doing this morning. A situation that Ranma seemed to have conveniently forgotten.

Shampoo glanced at her and smirked. Akane realized she must have been glaring. "Violent-girl have something to say?"

Akane glanced away, her face red with frustration and shame. "You gave him what you came to give him. Go away now. This is a school after all."

"Think you can make Shampoo?" the Amazon asked arrogantly.

Akane surged to her feet and slapped the table in anger. "Try me!"

Ranma stood up. "Now, now girls," he began placating. "No fighting in school."

Shampoo glomped on to him. "Since Husband ask!"

Akane was hurtling across the room the next second. Shampoo hopped out of the way of her fist, which connected solidly with Ranma's face. He spun away but Akane barely even noticed. She glared at Shampoo, fists tightly clenched. _I'm going to teach this hussy some manners!_ Akane tried another punch. Shampoo flipped over the top of her and slapped Akane's back hard. Akane stumbled forward but quickly whipped around. It didn't matter. Shampoo was already sprinting out the hole she'd made, chortling loudly. Akane glared after her but there wasn't anything she could do.

She stormed out of the cafeteria. _What I wouldn't give to be rid of that woman!_ As Akane walked through the halls, she noticed that she was getting a few funny looks. She grew self-conscious again, wondering if they could somehow tell she wasn't wearing panties. The whispers that followed her path only reinforced her paranoia. Eventually, an upperclassman who she didn't know stepped up behind her, placed a hand on her backside and squeezed. Akane yelped and spun around, slapping him across the face with a fair bit of her considerable strength. The upperclassman flew, hitting a window and crumpling in a heap underneath it.

To girls screamed and ran over to him. One—a girl with a bad blond dye-job—glared up at Akane. "What did you do that for?!"

"He grabbed me!" Akane snarled.

"Look at your back, you stupid bitch!"

Akane took a menacing step forward before the entirety of the kogal's statement penetrated. She reached behind her back and felt a piece of paper. Akane tore it off and looked at it. Scrawled across the paper in characters fit for an elementary student were the words, 'I too too much like pat on butt!' Akane crushed the paper in her fist. _That Chinese whore! It took more effort to mimic her stupid accent that it would have to write it properly._ Shampoo had wanted Akane to know it was her. And why not? There was nothing Akane could do. She screamed and punched the wall, making a huge hole. The two kogals dragged the upperclassman to his feet and hurried off with him.

The rest of the day was unpleasant for the rest of Akane's class. Even the teachers picked up on the burning aura of fury that Akane Tendo was giving off and taught very nervously. Everyone was quite relieved when the school day ended with no more eventfulness. None more so that Akane herself. _Maybe now I can just go home, have a hot soak and forget about all of this._ Then she spotted Happosai.

The old man was hastily running away from a gaggle of girls carrying a giant sack full of some kind of undergarments. As usual, Ranma took it upon himself to be the hero, impeding Happosai long enough for the women to catch up and start beating the tar of him. Akane did her best to stay away from the whole situation. _Just concentrate on Ranma. Please!_ She had almost made it to the school gate when Kuno blocked her path. "Akane, my love. I noticed this morning how impressed you were with my haiku so I have spent the whole of my day writing you several more!" He proceed to launch into them.

Akane's eye twitched and she had to stop herself from jump-kicking him in the mouth again. _Just punch him._ Akane stepped forward to uppercut Kuno into oblivion just as Happosai rolled to a stop in front of her. "I ain't done with you yet, old goat!" Ranma called.

Akane's stomach dropped to the center of the Earth as Happosai opened his eyes. The next few moments seemed to happen in slow-motion yet she could do nothing to stop them. "Akane-chan!" Happosai crowed happily, He jumped up and flipped her skirt almost casually. Just a perfunctory gesture by the hentai. Akane screamed. Kuno's eyes practically popped out of his head and a fountain of blood gushed out of his nose. He fainted dead away. Even Happosai was stunned, landing awkwardly and falling on his ass.

More humiliated that she'd ever been in her life, Akane turned her head, praying that he hadn't seen anything. The fact that Ranma was frozen, his arms limp at his side and his jaw slack told her that her prayers hadn't come true. "No!" Akane screamed. Then she ran as fast as she possibly could, tears leaking down her face.

 _He saw, he saw, I can't believe he saw! And Kuno. And Happosai._ Akane wanted to die. She couldn't imagine how she could ever go back to school again. And how she could face him again? Akane sobbed. "Damn it! Why Ranma?"

"What husband do this time?"

Akane skidded to a halt. Shampoo was balanced on a fence, a delivery box from her café balanced on one hand. Instantly, all of Akane's pain and shame was translated into rage. "You!" She charged at Shampoo. The Amazon jumped away before Akane hit and obliterated the fence. "You stupid woman-pervert!" Akane screamed. Trying a roundhouse kick that Shampoo easily danced away from.

"Me pervert? Which one not wearing anything under skirt?" Shampoo snickered.

 _Shit!_ Akane patted her skirt back down, blushing. "Why won't you leave already?" she hissed. "Nobody wants you here! You're just a pest."

"Oh?" Shampoo's eyes went from merry to ice. "Pest, am I?" She smiled. It was like a knife. She patted her delivery box. "Kodachi no think so. This delivery for her." She cracked open the box and reached inside. "Want see?"

Akane took a step back. _Is that from this morning?!_ She turned her head away. "No!"

"No be shy." Akane watched out of the corner of her eye with horror as Shampoo withdrew something from the box. Then the Amazon girl walked toward her.

Akane backpedaled rapidly. "Stay away from me!" Shampoo charged. Akane squealed with dismay as Shampoo tried to slap her with whatever she had pulled out. Akane managed to duck under it. _Please no, please no, please no._ Shampoo continued to press her and Akane continued to dodge. Which was difficult since she couldn't look at Shampoo straight on. Factor in the Amazon's far superior speed and it wasn't too long until Akane felt something rubbery and slimy slap her in the mouth.

She stumbled away and fell to her knees, tears brimming in her eyes. _No! Why? That's so gross!_ Shampoo started to laugh. Akane couldn't even bring herself to look at the Amazon. "Is no..." Shampoo began before interrupting herself with a gale of laughter. "Is no what you think." _Huh?_ "Is noodles!" Shampoo howled. Akane psyched herself up and glanced at Shampoo. It was true. In her hand was chopsticks holding a mass of ramen twisted together. Akane licked the corner of her mouth. _Pork bullion._

Akane got to her feet, face burning with shame. Shampoo fell onto her back, kicking her legs in the air and shrieking with laughter. Akane trudged home. She didn't say a word to Kasumi or her father, just going up to her room and falling into bed. She ignored Kasumi when she called everyone for dinner and sent her father away, bawling his eyes out of course, when he came to check on her. Akane couldn't remember feeling so exhausted. She thought she would be content to stay locked in her room, in bed, for the rest of her life. Except for one thing: she felt filthy.

After debating it for more than an hour, Akane eventually decided that she had to use the furo. Nervous for no reason, Akane swallowed past her dry throat and tiptoed downstairs. To her vast relief, she didn't run into anybody. She did wish she had some way to lock the bathroom door though. She didn't think she could stand it if Ranma pulled a Ranma and walked in on her. Akane tried to put it out of her mind and quickly scrubbed herself clean. Then she scrubbed herself again until her skin was red. She still didn't feel clean. Akane sunk into the furo, hoping that it would help.

Inevitably, Akane heard fighting outside. "Why didn't you protect Akane, you bastard?" That was Ryoga. _When did he get into town?_

"Shut up, pig-boy! That was your fault. How do you always show up where you're least wanted?" Then there was the meaty thud of two bodies colliding but Akane couldn't tell who had gotten the hit in. _Damn it. I should get out of here._

Akane scrambled out of the furo and grabbed her towel. Just in time, since Ryoga and Ranma crashed through the wall next to the furo a second later. Ryoga had a hand around Ranma's neck and his fist cocked back to punch. His attack was forgotten, however, when he caught sight of Akane.

 _At least I managed to get my towel around in time._ The bathroom was destroyed though. Broken pipes were spitting water everywhere and the furo was demolished. Normally, Akane would have yelled at Ranma but even she could see that Ryoga had rammed the pigtailed boy through the wall. "You idiots!" she shouted. "Look what you did to the bathroom!"

"Akane, I'm so sorry!" Ryoga got up and backed away from her rapidly, holding his hands up in front of his eyes.

Ranma, flat on his back, held up a hand and coughed. "Wait, you moron..."

Ryoga either didn't hear or didn't listen, continuing to back away, right into a jet of water from one of the pipes. It happened to be cold. The sequenced of events that happened next taxed Akane's exhausted brain to its limits. Ryoga was gone and P-chan was here. Ryoga had disappeared at the same time that P-chan appeared. Ryoga had been hit with water and now P-chan was standing where he had been, terror in his eyes. Her brain almost refused to take the final step but little signs that seemed so obvious in retrospect began to trickle in. Ryoga avoiding cold water at all costs. P-chan wandering in and out of her life. _That fucking bandana!_ Ryoga was P-chan. Ryoga was P-chan. _Ryoga was fucking P-chan!_

"No," Akane mumbled. "Tell me it isn't true." P-chan...Ryoga...turned and fled, tears streaming out behind him.

Ranma propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her guiltily. "Ryoga...he never meant to hurt you, Akane. You have to believe that."

Akane sprinted to her room. She flung herself down on her bed and screamed into her pillow. It didn't help. She looked around wildly. How many times had she had P-chan in this room? How many times had she changed in front of him? How many times had she confessed her innermost thoughts to him? How many times had she pulled him close to her breasts? She had to get out. Akane quickly pulled on a tanktop and a pair of shorts and fled the house.

She ran until she was gasping for breath. Somehow she ended up on a low hill overlooking Nerima. Akane stared up into the clear night sky and started to cry. How could she live now? Kuno had riled the boys up in their school enough that they somehow associated physical domination of her with love. She had hated all boys until she actually met two who could beat her in a fight but never tried to own her. She thought she could trust Ranma sometimes, but other times he seemed like a jerk and a pervert. Ryoga, though, Ryoga had always been a perfect friend. He was kind and considerate and never tried to take advantage of her. To learn that he was the biggest liar and pervert of all... _How can I ever trust another boy?_

"Akane..." Ranma said softly, behind her.

"Go away, Ranma," Akane said instinctively. _Don't leave me alone._

"Akane, I..." Ranma trailed off and sighed. _Damn it, Ranma. Can't you be what I need, just this once?_

"There's nothing to say. You and Ryoga must have been having a pretty good laugh at me." _No, that's not what I meant to say. Take me in your arms and tell me you'll never hurt me the way that Ryoga just did_. She couldn't say it. Ranma wasn't silent behind her. After a while, she figured he really had gone away. Akane bowed her head and continued to cry softly.

Then a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. Akane stiffened, shocked, but a warmth started to diffuse through her. _Ranma!_ "Akane Tendo," Tatewaki Kuno said. "My love." He nuzzled the top of her head.

 _No, not him. Anyone but him._ Akane gagged and reached behind her to grasp the front of Kuno's kimono. She flung him forward into the city. Then she dropped to her knees. _How could you abandon me, Ranma?_ Akane hugged herself and choked back vomit. It would never end, would it? Kuno would keep coming back. Happosai and Shampoo would keep torturing her. Who knew who else was playing her for a fool? Nabiki for certain. And Ranma and her father would stand by and let it happen. It was all going to keep happening again and again and again and again. Akane's eyes were wide and unblinking, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. _Unless..._ Akane giggled.

(x_x)

Tatewaki Kuno was quite happy when he crash-landed very close to his home. He got up and dusted himself off, chuckling. His precious Akane Tendo. _She's so shy!_ Though she had been bold this afternoon. He could still picture it: his fierce tigress pulling up her skirt, looking away demurely with a blush on her cheeks. "I wish for my senpai to see every part of me," she had whispered. A trickle of blood dipped from Kuno's nostril at the thought of it. Truthfully, it was a little forward for him. Kuno would have preferred they exchange journals, go on a hike in the mountains, perhaps eat a picnic lovingly prepared by her. "And for dessert," the Akane of his mind said, "an extra special treat." Kuno reeled and pinched off his nose.

His servant's welcomed him home and he was treated to an excellent repast, as always. French, tonight. His chefs had a particular knack for French cuisine. "Master," his butler said, presenting a tape on a silver tray. "The newest _Bubblegum Crisis_ has arrived."

"Excellent, man. I shall view it forthwith." Kuno descended into his media room and sat on his couch. Soon the video was playing and Kuno's heart was racing. It was a good episode. He loved the Knight Sabers. Especially Priss, who reminded him of his own loves.

Once the episode was over, Kuno got up and stretched. It had been a good day. New _Bubblegum Crisis,_ he'd gone untouched in kendo practice and his darling Akane had revealed a part of herself that no other man had seen. "It is good to be alive," he said aloud. "Good to be Tatewaki Kuno." He went to his room and proceeded to record all of his thoughts and feelings about the day in his journal. When he was about halfway through, Kuno thought he heard something. He looked around warily. Kodachi had been holed up in her room all day but he was always cautious of what she might be up to. Nothing seemed amiss, though, so he shrugged it off and finished his entry. When it was done, Kuno admired it. _I cannot wait for Akane to read these beautiful words!_

Kuno got up and walked to the center of his room, where he could stare at the giant photographs of Akane Tendo and the Pigtailed Girl above his bed. He'd paid a pretty steep price to Nabiki for the pair but it was all worth it. He loved them dearly and it soothed his soul that they looked down upon him as he slept. Today had been a good day with Akane. He needed to free the Pigtailed Girl from the grasp of Ranma Saotome soon and date with her. Akane Tendo and the Pigtailed Girl. He loved them both and they both loved him. Could they all live together? Some would call it arrogant but was he not Tatewaki Kuno? Did he not deserve it?

Something hit him in the back. Kuno grunted and stumbled forward a step. Something like an electric shock seemed to fire through his body. Kuno fell to one knee. Heat spread from his back. He reached back and felt wetness. "W...what?" he mumbled. Kuno brought his hand back around and looked at it. It was crimson. _What is happening?_ Weakness spread through his body and Kuno fell. He managed to twist around so he landed on his side. His back was on fire.

Kuno looked up and saw and angel standing above him. "Akane Tendo..." He whispered. She was in his room. He hoped it was tidy for her. He must show her around. He must get tea! Kuno tried to get up but his body wouldn't obey him. His back was starting to hurt. He was so hot. But he must play proper host to Akane Tendo after all. She was his guest and his lady love. He stared at her beautiful face and his eyes worked their way down her exquisite body. She was holding a butcher's knife for some reason, her hands covered in crimson. Was she cooking him a meal? _What a delight!_ He would eat it soon. _Perhaps a little nap first._ Kuno closed his eyes.

(x_x)

Akane watched Kuno bleed out, still not quite believing what she did. She had followed Kuno home and managed to sneak into his mansion. While he was eating, she had filched a butcher's knife from the kitchen. Then she hesitated. Could she really do this? There was no doubt in her mind that Kuno deserved it but her commitment waved as she watched him enjoy an anime and write his daily thoughts in his journal like a normal human being. Then she'd seen him staring up at the giant portraits of her and Ranma and everything flooded back. He wasn't going to leave her alone. He wasn't ever going to leave her alone. There was only one thing to do.

So Akane did it. The knife went in so easily and now it was done. She watched the pool of crimson spread out from Kuno and watched his chest slowly stop moving up and down. It was done. He was gone. Forever. Never again would she have to deal with his molestation and harassment. Akane stared down at her blood hands and the knife gripped firmly in her right hand. Her eyes and her hands trembled. She had taken another human being's life.

And Akane felt... _good_.

 **Author's Notes:** There you have it. Akane's first kill. I realize I was pretty cruel to her but I think I had to be to make her mental break make sense. Honestly, I've never been a big Akane aficionado but this kind of gave me some sympathy for her. For someone of her sensibilities, she really does have to deal with some bullshit. Obviously I piled on and exaggerated to a certain extent but the messed up thing is I don't think I exaggerated that much. Shampoo is meaner and more sexually forward than she normally is but I don't think Kuno or Happosai did anything out of character. I personally think some of Akane's reactions in here are reasonable and some aren't. I also decided that she would have the worst possible reaction to the Ryoga/P-chan reveal. I do want to say that I'm not trying to bash Ryoga here. This is from Akane's POV. I actually have some sympathy for that fanged dope. A little anyway.

From here, I hope the story gets a little more fun. Things proceeded pretty straightforward in his first chapter but my goal is to make this an interesting thriller where the residents of Nerima have to try and figure out who the killer is while getting picked off. Since Akane is weaker than most of her targets, she'll have to get a little creative too. This is pretty far outside of my normal wheelhouse so I'm just trying to have fun with it. Challenge myself a little.

Anyway, please let me know what you think. Reviews are appreciated! Thank you all very much for reading.

Kuragari


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes** : Whoa, I expected to get a lot more negative reviews. I guess the disclaimer at the beginning was a good idea. I'm glad a few of you seem to like this! Without further ado, the second chapter:

 **I Can Hear Sweat Trickling Down Your Cheek**

"Hikaru?" Akane called out in a singsong cadence. "Where are you?"

Hikaru Gosunkugi pressed himself up against the back of the desk he was hiding under and bit his lip. _Oh, how I wanted you to call me 'Hikaru' so sweetly._ Gosunkugi just never imagined it would be like this. He was in his high school building but after hours, so the lights were all off. The moon provided a little light but for the most part everything was shrouded in darkness. The school looked so different. It was scary. Or maybe it was the girl stalking him through the halls. "Hikaru!" she called out again but this time her voice was more demanding. "This would be so much easier if you didn't run." Akane laughed and a chill ran down Gosunkugi's spine. That was not the laugh of his pure, sweet Akane. "You know what you did, Hikaru. This shame...this stain on my honor. It must be expunged. You see that, don't you?"

 _The hell I do!_ Gosunkugi pulled his knees up to his chest wrapped his arms around them. _How did she figure it out anyway?_ Gosunkugi had opened his locker this morning to find a note from Akane Tendo. He had picked it up gently with thumb and forefinger, unwilling to dirty it anymore than necessary with his impure touch. He ran home—cutting his first class—and withdrew the letter with a pair of tweezers he'd purified three times over. On the clean white page had been written a simple note. _Hikaru-kun, Please meet me in front of the school tonight at nine. I have something very important to discuss with you. Akane._ Gosunkugi had swooned at the note. _She called me Hikaru!_ Gosunkugi had started sweating at that alone. _She wants to meet me! What could it be, other than a love confession?_

Gosunkugi had been unable to sit still the rest of the day and never went back to school. He'd had the note framed, fretting over the fat fool who was touching his note and demanding he be more delicate until the man finally threatened to kick his ass if he didn't shut up. Gosunkugi had shut up but he'd also stolen a thread of the man's hair. After whipping up a hoodoo doll and pounding a nail into it, Gosunkugi had retired into his room to imagine and prepare for Akane's confession. Then he spent some time "imagining" what they would do after she confessed. A quick shower later and he was ready to go.

Impatience got the best of him and he ended up at the school nearly two hours before the appointed time. The wait had been horrendous but worth it—he thought—when his goddess showed up. She was wearing her school uniform, as was he, and it had just all seemed so perfect. She had something hidden behind her back and he desperately wished to know what it was. _Is it food or perhaps a picture of her?!_ Hikaru's heart had leapt. _This is it, Hikaru!_ He desperately ran through his last few rituals regarding Akane, wondering which one had finally won her heart. _Could it be...?_

"Hikaru-kun, there is something I want to ask you?" Her voice was light but there was something...not right with her eyes.

"W-what is that, Tendo-san?" He asked with a quaver in his voice. Then he cursed himself for being so formal with her. _She's calling you Hikaru. Call her Akane._

"A couple of days ago, my panties disappeared from my locker during while I was in the pool." Her voice was the same but her eyes grew even wider. They were almost hypnotic. "Would you know anything about that?"

Gosunkugi's blood ran cold and he started shivering violently. _How could she know?_ He had _needed_ them. His newest hoodoo magazine had listed a spell for winning your true love's affection. But it needed a pubic hair! Gosunkugi had only meant to take a single hair but when he saw those virginal white panties, he hadn't been able to stop himself. He'd run off with them and all too soon they had been a thoroughly unreturnable state. He'd heard about had happened later, of course. His Ranma and Kuno dolls had received a good pounding that night.

"A-akane-chan," he said, holding a hand toward her. "It was an accident, I swear!"

Her dark eyes flashed and Gosunkugi nearly pissed himself. "Do you think you should be speaking so familiar to me? Explain to me how it was an accident." Her eye twitched and she said, so gently that Gosunkugi wanted to cry. "And, Hikaru, make it good."

Still shivering uncontrollably, Gosunkugi thought as fast as he could. _Can't tell her the truth. She'll hate me. Think, Hikaru, think! Did you ever actually admit to taking them?_ He thought back. _No...I said it was an accident_. A plan clicked into place. Blame someone else! And all the better, since that bastard Kuno was dead! "It wasn't me, Ak...Tendo-san. I spotted Kuno-senpai taking them from your locker. I tried to steal them back for you but when me and Kuno were fighting over them, they ripped in half." Gosunkugi hung his head. "I am very sorry."

Akane clucked. "Not too bad, Hikaru. I didn't know you could think so fast." Hikaru felt something cool on his cheek and when he glanced at it, he stopped breathing. Akane had a butcher's knife in her hand and the blade was caressing his cheek. "Two problems, though. Number one, Kuno, for all of his perversions, wasn't the type to sneak away panties. That sounds more like you, Gosunkugi, with your love of totems. Number two," Akane continued, her voice getting colder. "Someone _saw_ you sneak out of the women's locker-room on that day. And only you." Her knife started to bite into the flesh of his cheek.

 _Holy shit_ , Hikaru thought, feeling ice-cold. _She's going to kill me._ "Ranma!" he shouted, looking over Akane's shoulder. "Help me!"

"Ranma?!" Akane whipped around, her knife slicing open Gosunkugi's cheek as she did so. "How did you..." Akane trailed off as she realized that Ranma wasn't there.

Gosunkugi didn't waste a second. Cradling his bleeding cheek, he sprinted as fast as he could toward the school. He knew from experience that Akane was faster than him and had much more endurance. He had to make the most of his head-start if he wanted to live. He ripped open the entryway doors of the school, ecstatic for once that Furinkan was run by incompetents. Gosunkugi closed the door and flipped the lock just in time. Akane smashed into it and cursed. Gosunkugi sighed in relief and leaned against the door. Then a knife burst through the door about a centimeter from his head. Gosunkugi shrieked and ran. A single glance back showed him that Akane had put her fist through the door and was proceeding to rip it off its hinges.

 _Fuuuuck!_ Gosunkugi ran, even though his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest and he had such a sharp pain under his ribs that he couldn't even feel the cut on his face. _She's gonna kill me, she's gonna kill me, she's gonna kill me!_ He chanced another glance backward and saw that she was right behind him. This time Gosunkugi's bladder did release and he felt warmth running down his legs. "Hikaru!" Akane screamed as she launched herself at him. Gosunkugi wailed in terror but the gods of hoodoo did look down upon him and Gosunkugi slipped in his own urine and fell. Akane soared over him and kicked the wall, smashing a hole through it. Her leg went in deep enough to get stuck.

Gosunkugi scrambled to his feet, slipping a couple of times, and hustled away. Using his brain this time, instead of falling sway to raw terror, Gosunkugi turned a corner and then quietly snuck into a classroom. He wedged himself under the teacher's desk and waited. Soon he heard the slapping sounds of Akane running down the hall. The adrenalin drained out of Gosunkugi, even though he knew it was a mistake to relax. _I'm safe_. Tears sprung to his eyes. _But my dear Akane, what had happened to you?_ A spell, perhaps? To make her hate him? He couldn't imagine his Akane wanting to kill him otherwise. Gosunkugi closed his eyes.

"Hikaru!" Akane called out sweetly. Gosunkugi snapped awake, a burst of energy flowing through him. Had he really dozed off? _Oh, shit!_ Gosunkugi poked his head out a little and then ducked back, choking down bile. He saw her shadow, walking down the hall. "You can't hide from me forever, Hikaru. I know you are around here somewhere." He heard her slide open the door to the classroom next to his. She continued to implore him to come out while Gosunkugi could do nothing but hug himself and tremble.

 _I have to get out of here_. Akane obviously had some idea of where he was and wasn't going to give up. His muscles-unused to even minor exertion-ached as he slid out from under the desk. Gosunkugi didn't see Akane's shadow anywhere but she had stopped calling out to him. Sweating uncontrollably, Hikaru made his way to the windows. He unlatched the window ever so gently, crouched down and looking over his shoulder every second. He pushed the window open, his heart stopping when it emitted the softest of squeaks.

After Akane didn't burst in and murder the shit out of him, Gosunkugi's heart restarted and he crawled through the window. The cool night air caressed Gosunkugi's sweaty skin, causing him to shiver even more violently. On hands and knees, he hurried away from the school and hid behind a nearby tree. _Now what?_ Gosunkugi supposed that he should go home but he didn't know how bad this spell Akane was under actually was. _What if she is crazy enough to murder my parents along with me?_ Gosunkugi shook his head. _The police then?_ Could the police even help him? They seemed to pretty much ignore the martial artists of Nermia. Would they even believe him? Akane was the school idol, after all, and the Tendo name widely respected. Who was he?

 _A hoodoo master, that's who!_ No, Gosunkugi couldn't rely on others to get him out of this jam. He needed to rely on the spirits and his own powers. _Akane must be returned to her normal angelic self!_ Luckily, Gosunkugi kept many of his supplies on campus. He snuck a glance around the tree and saw no silhouette of Akane. Gosunkugi took a deep breath and then ran as fast as his skinny legs would carry him. He sprinted across the campus and to one of the equipment sheds. Once inside, he felt his way along by touch until he came across the correct trunk. Underneath several soccer balls was a small chest. Gosunkugi grasped the key hanging on a chain around his neck and opened the chest. His extensive practice allowed him to light a candle in the darkness.

Gosunkugi laid out what he had. Most important were items that formerly belonged to Akane. Some nail clippings, a baggie of hair, a pencil she'd chewed on, the core of an apple she'd eaten and the somewhat...soiled panties. _What else?_ Supplies for making sympathetic dolls. Dolls of Kuno, Ranma and Nabiki. Black salt, a pentagram, a blue chickenfoot, various candles and a few other things. Gosunkugi grabbed his head. _What can I do with this? I need to make Akane love me or at least not want to kill me_. Most of his books were at home though. _Maybe I need to go home, after all?_ He would just need to take his Akane-supplies with him. Gosunkugi picked up the panties.

"Are those mine?"

(X_X)

Gosunkugi shrieked and fell backwards, smashing his head on the lip of a trunk. Akane glared at him but the frail boy didn't stir. His candle tipped over and Akane watched the trunk slowly light on fire. She grunted in approval. _Seems like a fair way for him to go out_. She left the shed and stopped a little ways away to watch it go up. _Hikaru, you bastard. I knew you were a little weird but I never thought you were this perverted._ She seethed, watching the flames start to devour the building. _One of the architects of my greatest humiliation_. Two down, one to go. If only she had any idea of how to kill the malignant piece of shit.

Fire alarms sounded in the distance but Akane knew from classes on fire safety that Hikaru would already be dead of smoke inhalation, if nothing else. _Good riddance._ She'd seen the rest of his little collection. _How did I ever think of him as anything but sick, twisted deviant?_ The fire alarms were drawing closer so, with one last glance at the roaring orange flame that marked Hikaru Gosunkugi's funeral pyre, Akane disappeared into the darkness.

(X_X)

 **Two Days Prior**

Inspector Tetsu Inada squatted down, adjusting his shoulder holster to sit more comfortably with the ease of long practice. Before him was gruesome sight. A young man, splayed out on the floor of his bedroom in a pool of blood. Inada had seen worse, of course, but the day he wasn't disturbed by the sight of a corpse would be day he knew he had to retire. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and quickly and efficiently explored the body. The killing wound wasn't hard to find. A gaping wound in the boy's lower back. He'd have to wait for the official autopsy but unless he missed his guess, the stab was a single blow but managed to sever the spinal cord and damage multiple organs. _This was done by someone very strong then_.

That almost crossed off Inada's first suspect: the woman that had called the police after one of the maids came across the body. Kodachi Kuno. She had and did seem utterly unconcerned by the death of her brother. Add to the disturbing rumors he'd heard about her and she had to be a person of interest, at least. The killing blow _did_ seem like more than someone of her size should be capable of but, though Inada had only been assigned to Nerima for a short while, he was starting to understand that appearances in this town could be very deceiving.

Inada stood up and removed his gloves. He gazed around the room, trying to spot anything that might give him a hint. The most noticeable thing, straight off, were all the pictures of two different girls. One had short, dark hair and the other bright red done in a pigtail. He added them to his mental list of people to investigate. Since there was no obvious suspects or motives, Inada wasn't prepared to throw anything out. His training was telling him, however, to keep focused on the members of the household. Since this wasn't a robbery, it seemed likely a crime of passion. A quarrel with his sister? An abused butler sick of shoddy treatment? Inada would find out.

(X_X)

A gentle knock on her door woke Akane up. She snapped to attention, adrenalin flooding her body. "Y-yes?!" she shouted, cursing herself for being so loud.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was alright," Kasumi said softly. "Breakfast is ready."

"I'll be right down!" Akane shouted. _Calm down!_

"Alright," her sister said with a hint of concern. Kasumi wasn't the type to pry, though, and Akane breathed a little easier when she heard soft footsteps retreating from her door. She laid her head down on the desk. Akane was exhausted. She'd fallen asleep at her desk but it couldn't have been more than an hour or two ago. Mostly she'd sat and thought about what she'd done. The rational part of her brain was telling her she should feel guilty but she didn't. At all. Kuno didn't deserve to exist.

Akane picked up the butcher's knife she'd taken from Kuno's mansion and turned it over in her hands. _I should have gotten rid of this_. She'd stopped by a public restroom to wash the blood off her hands and considered dumping the knife into the trashcan. Somehow, she hadn't been able to let it go. It was the symbol of her taking control of her life, finally. She wanted to keep it. To use it again. With a shake of her head, Akane buried it in one of her desk drawers and headed down to breakfast.

Ranma was down there, looking contrite for once. Probably about keeping Ryoga's curse a secret from her, even though that was hardly the only thing he'd done yesterday. Akane was feeling more magnanimous toward him than usual, however. So many of their problems were caused by the psychos that wouldn't leave them alone. Maybe, once Akane achieved some peace for them, they would be able to try and see if they had something. She smiled at Ranma and the dummy gaped at her.

The walk to school was pleasant for once. Akane was ready for Shampoo or Happosai to pop out but they never did. Akane didn't know about the Amazon but the wizened pervert was good at maintaining a low profile when he was on particularly thin ice. _Not that I'll forget what he did_. There was no crowd of boys to attack her when she arrived to school and, blessedly, no Kuno. He wasn't there harassing her or charging at Ranma shouting some nonsense. It was like a dream.

One of the teachers was directing them to the auditorium. "What?" Ranma complained. "That idiot principle gonna try something again?"

"No," the teacher said, gravely. "Please proceed to the auditorium. We will explain things there." Akane felt butterflies stirring in her stomach. There was only one thing this could be about.

She was right. The vice-principal stood up before the assembled students and said. "Last night, your classmate, Tatewaki Kuno, left this world."

There was a collective gasp in the auditorium. Several students twisted around to look at her. Akane didn't know how to react. _What should my face look like?_ Nobody would buy it if she looked sad or upset but would appearing uncaring or pleased make her suspicious? Akane couldn't decided. _I hope my face is staying blank_. She glanced at Ranma, who was sitting next to her. He looked poleaxed. "Kuno…" he whispered. "How could that happen? He looked just fine yesterday."

Akane turned away from him, wondering why he seemed upset. _Kuno was as much of a problem for him as for me. How many times was he sexually harassed by that pervert while in his girl form?_ Akane turned back to the vice-principal, who had continued to speak. "The school counselor is available for anybody who feels the need to speak to someone about this. Now, let's all have a moment of silence for our departed classmate." The vice-principal bowed his head. The auditorium stayed silent for the next several seconds. The vice-principal lifted his head. "You are dismissed."

The students all left for their homerooms, chattering in groups. Akane walked next to Ranma, who seemed lost in thought. Akane also disappeared into her own thoughts as the day went along. She had to decide what her next move would be. Now that she had crossed a line she couldn't track back, the only path was to move forward. So what were her goals? Number one was to erase her bone-deep shame. The two primary authors of her humiliation were Happosai and Ryoga. They had to die if she were to achieve any peace.

The other goal was a little more tricky. Akane wanted to achieve some measure of tranquility or at least order in her life. There were plenty of disruptive factors. The Amazons, all of the Kunos, Ukyo, Genma and even Nabiki and her own father. Also Ranma. Plenty of those people didn't deserve to die. The person who stuck out like a sore thumb in that bunch was Shampoo. She was an unrelenting pest and was always drawing Ranma into shenanigans. Not only that but Akane was certain that Shampoo would kill her if she could get away with it. _Obstacles are for killing, right?_

By the time school ended, Akane had decided. Happosai, Ryoga and Shampoo had to die. Not only would it improve her life but the world would be better off without all three. Akane felt lighter for one moment, now that she had a plan. Then reality crushed her once again. The weakest of those three was Shampoo and the last time they had fought, Akane hadn't even been able to touch her. So how was Akane going to get to them? There had to be something. Her first thought, the Hiryu Shoten Ha, was way too obvious. _Anything Goes has an endless variety of attacks. What could work?_ Then it hit her.

"Saotome-san," Akane said, finding him in the dojo. In his human form, luckily.

The rotund man turned to her. "What is it, Akane-chan?" As always, he seemed vaguely guilty of something. She wondered what kind of man Ranma would have become if Genma hadn't raised him on his own. _Ranma can be surprisingly decent despite all this fat oaf did to beat it out of him. He might actually be a gentleman if Nodoka-obasan had been part of his life!_ Still, she figured that both Ranma and her father would be sad if anything happened to Genma.

"I want you to train me," Akane said firmly.

Genma raised an eyebrow. "Your father is your sensei. It would be inappropriate for me to take you as a student."

"My father can't teach me what I need to know." Genma cocked his head. "I want to learn the Umisenken."

Genma gaped. "That technique is sealed! What do you want to learn that for?"

Akane glowered at him and Genma flinched. "You don't need to know."

Genma pushed up his glasses and tried to take an air of authority. "Well, it doesn't matter. The Umisenken is sealed and it will stay that way."

Akane took a menacing step forward and Genma immediately quailed. "Listen, you, you've been staying in our house and eating our food for free. The least you could do is listen to a request to make use of the one skill that you possess!"

"Your father is letting me stay here!" Genma cried.

"Teach me the Umisenken!" Akane snarled.

"I can't. I won't." Genma actually seemed to firm up a bit. Akane glared at him. _So just straight bullying won't work._

Akane put a finger on her chin and said, thoughtfully, "Y'know, Obasan invited me over for tea tomorrow. I always feel so bad for her. She's such a lonely woman. If only I knew where her husband was."

Genma shivered and shrank away. "You wouldn't!"

Akane gathered up a fistful of his gi. "Try me. I'm sick of you two playing with heart of that woman. I think it needs to end, one way or another."

The fat man slumped. "Okay. I'll teach you. If you think you can learn."

Akane pushed him away from her. "I'll learn."

They spent the next hour going over the basic form of Umisenken. Akane was supposed to pull herself inward by taking the stance of a ghost and erasing her aura entirely. She made little progress and the more times she failed, the angrier she got, which made it that much harder to erase her aura. _How the hell did Ranma learn this after a single attack?_ His sense for martial arts was both amazing and irritating. Genma eventually left her, telling her to come to him when she successfully rid herself of any trace of her aura. _Bastard probably thinks I never will_.

Akane went to her room and tried again and again to achieve the sense of nothingness she felt from Genma when he adopted the basic stance of Umisenken. _If that fat old man can do it, I surely can as well_. Akane practiced until she drifted off to sleep. She thought that maybe she had something right before she slipped into unconsciousness but when she woke, Akane couldn't remember it.

When Ranma and Akane returned from school the next day, they were met by a somewhat nervous Kasumi. "What's wrong, Kasumi?" Akane asked, immediately on guard. It took a lot to upset her sister.

"There is a man here. An inspector from the police. He is speaking to father now," Kasumi said, glancing back toward the dining room. "He says he needs to speak to you and Ranma-kun."

Akane's heart started pounding. "What?" she whispered.

"The police?" Ranma asked, lacing his fingers behind his neck. "What could they want with me and Akane. Sure they don't want Pops?"

Kasumi shook her head. "He mentioned you and Akane by name. Though your father did leave the house the moment he heard the Inspector Inada announce himself."

Akane steeled herself, swallowing down the bile rising in her throat. _He doesn't know anything. He wants to speak to Ranma too, right? He's just talking to people who knew Kuno_. Still, images of getting put in handcuffs, her father and sister crying as she was dragged away, the gavel banging, consuming a last bowl of rice while tears streamed down her face, the rope snapping tight, all assaulted her as she walked into the dining room.

The world seemed a little unreal and distant to Akane bowed to the police officer. He was a middle-aged man in a rumpled brown suit. His face was square and pleasant while his hair was unfashionably cut short. He certainly didn't seem like a dangerous person. Akane's kneeled down at the table, her body feeling like an automaton that she was barely in control of. Kasumi, hurriedly poured tea for her and Ranma. Akane noticed that the inspector and her father already had theirs. How like her sister.

"Hello," Inada said. "I am Inada, a special inspector with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. A pleasure to meet you."

"Ranma Saotome," Ranma grunted.

Akane shot him a glare. _Why is he always so impolite?_ She bowed to the officer. "I am Akane Tendo. A pleasure to meet you."

"Yes," her father sipped his tea. "It has been pleasant talking to you, Inada-san, but now that my daughter and Ranma are here, perhaps you can tell us what this is all about."

Inada nodded amicably. "It is my sad duty to inform you that your classmate Tatewaki Kuno did not die a natural death. He was, in fact, killed when someone stabbed him in the back."

Ranma jumped to his feet, her father leaned back, his mouth agape and Kasumi made a small noise of distress. Akane tried to think how she should react but she was completely paralyzed. "He was stabbed?!" Ranma shouted. "What? How? I mean, who? Who would do that?"

"That's my job to discover," Inada said, calmly taking a sip of tea. "Unfortunately, there were no witnesses that we know of so at the moment we have no suspects. At the moment, I am interviewing all persons of interest."

Soun coughed. "Am I to infer that Akane and Ranma are persons of interest," he said incredulously.

"At the moment," Inada confirmed, unperturbed. "As I said, there are no suspect so I am casting a wide net in my search. During my preliminary research I discovered that Saotome and Kuno fought at school nearly on a daily basis. I also have evidence that Kuno was harassing and perhaps stalking your daughter."

"Is that true, Akane?" her father said, looking astonished.

Akane crossed her arms. _Why is he so surprised?_ "Yes. I don't understand why you are so surprised. I complained about it often enough," she grumbled.

Soun slumped. "I guess I didn't realize it was that bad." Akane ground her teeth, her temper started to flare. _What_ did _you think then?_

"Mm." Inada scribbled something in his notebook. "Anyway, both of you were close to Kuno and could reasonably be considered to have an antagonistic relationship with him."

"Us and every other student," Ranma said sitting down. "If you're looking for people who didn't like Kuno, you're gonna be interviewing most of the school."

"Why do you say that?" Inada asked.

"He was a jerk." Ranma waved his hand. "Nobody liked him."

"Yet it was _you_ who fought with him on a daily basis."

"Only because I could beat him." Ranma smirked. "Ask around, Inspector, I never lost to him once. I usually didn't even break a sweat."

"So you're saying you had no reason to kill him because he wasn't a threat to you?" Inada asked, jotting something in his notebook.

Ranma blinked. "Uh, yeah, I guess I am."

"So, if Kuno _was_ a credible threat to you, would you then be more likely to do him real harm?" Inada pressed.

"What?!" Ranma hopped to his feet again. "No way! I'd never kill anyone. And Kuno couldn't possibly ever beat me in a straight fight."

"So, if he did beat you, perhaps by cheating, you would be angry right? Angry enough to hurt him?"

"No!" Ranma hands curled into fists. "Stop twisting my words around. I had _nothing_ to do with Kuno's death."

"I see." Inada wrote in his book again.

"Calm down, son," Soun said.

Still looking furious, Ranma sank down. _Idiot_. Akane swallowed past her dry throat and waited for Inada to turn to her. _I can't let myself get riled up like Ranma just did_. "Tendo," Inada finally looked at her. "How did you feel about the way Kuno treated you?"

Akane took a deep breath. _Stay calm_. "I won't pretend that I liked it very much. Kuno was...delusional. Nothing I said or did could convince him that I did not return his feelings." _Stupid! That was exactly the reason you killed him._ "But-but, ultimately I think that Kuno was mostly harmless," Akane said hurriedly. "He mostly just spouted poetry at me and challenged Ranma for my affections. He never tried to force himself on me or anything like that."

"Mm. I did learn that Kuno would, prior to Saotome's arrival, habitually challenge you to a duel with the intention of dating you if he won."

"Yes," Akane said reluctantly. "But he never fought me at full strength so I always won our fights easily."

Inada squinted at her and scratched his cheek with the back of his pen. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Kuno was not a...rational person."

"So I am beginning to learn." Inada wrote a little more and said. "Can both of you tell me your whereabouts two nights ago at approximately ten o'clock?"

"Here. Sleeping," Ranma said without hesitation.

"The same," Akane put in.

"Of course." Inada nodded and then reached into his pocket. "A final question. Do either of you know the whereabouts of this girl?" He produced a picture of Ranma in his female form. "I don't seem to be able to find any record of her. She is not enrolled at Furinkan though I know she is sometimes there. After skimming through Kuno's journals I assume she is the one he refers to as the 'pigtailed girl' though he never mentions a name."

Akane and Soun both glanced at Ranma. A stubborn look came to his eyes. _Does he not like police officers?_ Akane wondered. _Maybe he got it from his father_. "She's a cousin of the Tendos," Ranma said flippantly. "And she is not here right now."

"I see. What is her name?"

"Ranko. Ranko Tendo."

"Do you have any contact information for her?"

Soun laughed awkwardly, placing a hand behind his head. "I'm afraid not. She just drops in every once in awhile."

"Do you know what school she attends?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Finally Ranma just said, "No."

"I see." Inada closed his notebook and got to his feet. "Thank you for your time." He bowed low and then passed a business card to Soun. "If you should think of anything you wish to tell me, please contact me at that number. Especially if Ranko Tendo stops by or are able to point me in her direction." He bowed to Kasumi. "The tea was delicious." Kasumi mumbled something demurely and led him from the room.

Akane got to her feet and followed them to the entryway. The inspector left without looking back. Akane put a hand to her brow and was horrified to feel that it was sweaty. _Was I sweating during that entire interview?! Does he suspect me?_

"I can't believe somebody killed Kuno," Ranma said beside her. Akane leapt straight up and barely held back a scream. "Whoa." Ranma glanced at her. "Are you alright?"

"Of course she's not alright!" Soun shouted. "She just learned her classmate was murdered."

Ranma shook his head. "It's unbelievable. Stabbed in the back. Who would kill Kuno?" He glanced around. "Where is Nabiki anyway?"

Soun's head started to puff up into a proto-demon. "Are you suggesting that my little girl might have done this?!" he demanded.

Ranma waved his hands. "Not at all. I was just curious what she might think. Being in the same class with him and all."

Soun's demon-head wilted. "Oh."

Akane pushed past Ranma and headed for her room. "I need to lie down for a little while," she muttered.

(X_X)

Inada left the Tendo household feeling slightly perturbed. Despite the fact that he still considered it most likely that the killer was part of the Kuno household-the father and the sister both seemed capable of the task-Inada had to admit that the most likely suspect after that was Ranma Saotome. He was a wanderer and large chunks of his history were missing from any official record. His father, Genma, was also well-known as a petty thief and escape artist. Ranma had been suspicious and cautious though he did seem genuinely shocked by the news that Kuno had been killed. Also the story about Ranko Tendo was odd and full of holes. Why was Ranma answering questions if she was a cousin of the Tendos? Not to mention that the redhead looked almost exactly like Ranma.

He sighed and walked into a small okonomiyaki cafe. The brunette teenager behind the grill cheerfully welcomed him. Inada ordered a pork okonomiyaki and sat down at the bar. Ranma might be hiding something but nothing really pointed to him being involved. The other one, Akane Tendo, had seemed very nervous but that wasn't an uncommon reaction to the police. He couldn't imagine she had anything to do with it. Though he'd heard she had real temper. Inada sighed. He had plenty of suppositions but no real evidence. If something didn't come to light soon, he was afraid this case would go very, very cold.

(X_X)

Akane stared at the ceiling. _What am I going to do?_ She supposed that she had always known that the police would investigate Kuno's death but it hadn't really hit her until the inspector had been sitting at her table. _Did he suspect anything?_ Akane thought furiously but she couldn't she anyway she'd given herself away. The inspector hadn't really focused on her. She'd read plenty of manga where inspectors like that played head-games with the criminals they were tracking. _But he wouldn't do all that if he had any real evidence. Or maybe he doesn't suspect me at all._ "Arrgh!" Akane cried into rolling from side to side.

A light knock made her sit up. "Akane?" Kasumi asked in a soft voice. "May I come in?"

"O-of course, Kasumi."

Kasumi came in and sat herself at Akane's desk. "You're taking this very hard, aren't you?"

"Oh!" Akane felt tears coming but held them back. "Yes. It's all so unbelievable. I'm not sure what I should think."

Kasumi got up and enveloped Akane in a hug. Akane relaxed into it. It reminded her of her mother. "I saw you down there. You may be good at hiding your emotions from the rest but you feel guilty, don't you?" Akane stiffened. Kasumi patted the back of her head. "It's alright. It's okay if you feel relief at Kuno's passing. I know what he did to you. You think you should feel grief but you're only human, Akane. It's alright."

Akane surrendered herself completely to Kasumi and started sobbing. _Thank you, big sister. Thank you for understanding._

Much later, Akane forced herself out of bed and went down to supper. Nabiki was there but Genma was not, to Akane's relief. Ranma came inside the same time she reached the bottom of the stairs. He was in his tanktop with a towel around his shoulders, his hair hanging limply with sweat. Akane seated herself near him. She would never admit it aloud but she kind of liked the smell of his sweat.

"You missed the cops stopping by," Ranma said to Nabiki, helping himself to a generous portion of food.

"Did I now?" Nabiki said with disinterest. "What did they want?"

Ranma grunted, spraying out a few grains of rice. "I guess me and Akane are 'persons of interest.' Whatever the hell that means."

"Oho," Nabiki said, raising her eyebrows. "So Kuno _was_ murdered then."

"Oh yeah," Ranma said sheepishly. "I guess you didn't know it."

"I hardly think this is proper dinner-table conversation," Kasumi said.

Nabiki ignored her. "I guessed as much. The cops don't have a suspect, then? I thought for sure that I'd be hearing a news story about them hauling in Kodachi any time."

Ranma shook his head. "Kodachi is crazy but I don't think a knife in the back is really her style."

"Maybe not. She is a poisoner by trade." Nabiki rubbed her chin. "Maybe the Principle then?" Nabiki smirked. "Perhaps he accidentally stabbed him while trying to give him 'da propa haircut.'"

Kasumi slammed a hand down on the table startling them all. "Nabiki!" she said, aghast. "A human is dead."

"Sorry, Kasumi," Nabiki mumbled contritely.

Dinner proceeded in silence from there, which was welcome to Akane. She used the furo right after dinner and then went directly to her bedroom and laid down. After Kasumi had left before, she had started thinking. Kuno had to be the last person she killed. This Inada was poking around and Akane couldn't get the image of a devastated Kasumi out of her mind. It was too nerve-racking and too much was on the line if she was caught. Kuno had only happened because of the beyond awful day she'd had.

And yet…and yet, how could she let Happosai live? The world would be so much better without that creep. Who would miss him? He was so small she could easily get rid of the body. Who would go looking for him? So just Happosai then. But...she bit her lip. What could be done about Shampoo? She wouldn't give up on Ranma until she was dead. And she would perpetually torment Akane and try and keep Ranma away from her. So what choice was there? And Ryoga. Maybe if the perpetually lost boy stayed lost for good she could let things go. The thought of him cuddling up against her in his pig-form filled her belly with rage, though.

She rolled over in her bed, her thoughts back where they started and going round and round without answer. When her alarm went off, Akane doubted she had gotten more than a few minutes of sleep. She stumbled downstairs and forced herself to eat breakfast. The site of her sister's smiling face made her swear to put everything behind her once again. _No more killing_.

Akane trudged to school. When she was putting her school shoes on, she heard the click of a camera. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hikaru Gosunkugi disappear behind a corner. Akane sighed but wasn't that upset. At least Gosunkugi admired her from afar from the most part. He'd never tried to attack her like most of the dumb boys in this school. She did wish he and everybody else would just leave her alone for a while, though.

A girl from another class giggled and said, "Gross."

Akane glanced at them and closed her locker, not really caring about the conversation until another girl said, "I know, right? Do you think I should report him to the principal? I can't believe he was sneaking around in the women's changing room."

 _What?!_ Akane stiffened. "Don't go to the principal. That guy is a frEEEK!" The first girl squealed when Akane seized the second girl by the shoulders and brought her so close their noses were touching.

"You saw Gosunkugi in the changing rooms? When?"

"Two days ago!" the girl wailed.

"What time?" Akane ground out.

"The morning?" Akane flung her away. _That bastard. He did it!_ Her mind flashed back to the humiliations she'd suffered after swim class. _He did it!_ Whatever her expression was, the two girls took one look at her and sprinted away. _I thought that freak was harmless._ Akane wanted run him down and ring his neck. She covered her eyes with one hand and took several deep breaths, trying to get control of her anger. _I have to be smart about this. I have to play it safe. But Gosunkugi has got to die._

(X_X)

 **The Next Morning**

"What are you doing here?"

Inada looked at the police officer that addressed him. It was Abe, from the local precinct. "I was in the neighborhood," Inada said with a smile.

Abe looked skeptical. "Right."

"So what happened?"

"Looks like this kid, Gosunkugi, was trying some sort of strange ritual when his candles lit the equipment shed on fire. The firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading but he was dead before they arrived."

"And you're sure he was killed by the fire?"

Abe shrugged. "Not until the coroner is through but what else could it be?"

"I don't know," Inada admitted. But something didn't feel right about this. Another death so soon after a clear murder. Of course, they weren't in the same class and Gosunkugi had never come up during his investigation of Kuno. Yet Inada's stomach was telling him there was a connection. He didn't know what it was yet but that just meant that he had to dig deeper into this strange school known as Furinkan.

 **Author's Notes** : The second victim! Poor, poor Gosunkugi. You many be wondering why 'hoodoo instead of 'voodoo.' I quick wikipedia search suggested that was the proper terminology. Also I like saying 'hoodoo.' And the introduction of an OC (bonus points if you know where I got the name and why. More bonus points if you know what song the title of the chapter comes from). I honestly have no idea how a real Japanese detective would approach investigating this crime (or even an American one, really) so I just did my best. I didn't want to make Inada a genius detective (cause Akane ain't no mastermind killer) but just a generally competent policeman trying to sort through the weirdness of Nerima. Also I just made up Ranma's antipathy for cops but I think it makes sense. His father, whose main contribution to Anything Goes are two arts for stealing, probably would have told him to keep away from cops. Ranma also tends to dislike authority figures I think. As for telling such a dumb lie in regards to Ranko, well, Ranma usually just opens his mouth without thinking so…

Anyway, I'm kind of sad I got rid of Kuno and Gosunkugi so soon. Delusional characters are fun to write. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you as always for giving it a read and, of course, reviews are always appreciated.

Kuragari


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